LEGISLATURE: Callegari announces pension transparency legislation

Community report

Published 3:21 pm, Wednesday, April 17, 2013

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LEGISLATURE: Callegari announces pension transparency legislation

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AUSTIN - On Tuesday, Texas State Rep. Bill Callegari (District 132, Katy) laid out House Bill 13 on the floor of the Texas House of Representatives, which will effectively increase transparency of public pension systems and provide much needed accountability when handling public funds.

"There are over 300 public pension plans in the State of Texas and these systems are not just for schoolteachers and state employees, but also firefighters, police officers, and municipal employees," said Callegari, Chairman of the House Committee on Pensions. "The financial health of these public pension plans affects the everyday lives of hundreds of thousands of Texans, both participants and non-participants. House Bill 13 is aimed at protecting the taxpayers who foot the bills for public pensions and the employees who deserve to know if their retirements are financially secure."

Currently, the State Pension Review Board has authority to review the operation of all public retirement systems, but House Bill 13 will make a number of improvements to public pension system reporting and to the administrative authority of the State Pension Review Board.

House Bill 13 increases the authority of the State Pension Review Board to request and collect data regarding the actuarial soundness of all public retirement systems across the state. The data will be posted publicly on the State Pension Review Board website or on other publicly available sites.

Additionally, House Bill 13 directs the State Pension Review Board to create and administer new educational training programs to assist public pension systems in the performance of their duties.

These training programs will be made available online to ensure the widest possible access for all system administrators and trustees. This requirement should be especially helpful for the numerous, small pension systems around Texas, which often lack the resources to implement strong training programs.

Educational resources will include training programs for conflicts of interest and ethics.